Washington Construction Law Blog

Here, a jury rejected a condo developer's case against its property insurer (Safeco) for decay to the structure due to rainwater infiltration caused by poor construction & Division One affirmed because:

• The ultimate loss -- decay to the building -- was an excluded loss, and therefore the ensuing loss doctrine did not apply.
• The "collapse" provision of the policy -- which the Court held to mean there's coverage for any "substantial impairment of structural integrity" -- did not apply because the jury elected to believe Safeco's experts rather than the Owner's experts on the nature & severity of the decay, and
• There was no reversible error in Safeco's untimely disclosure of a draft expert report because there was insufficient prejudice to the Owner given that the report was made available toward the end of trial and counsel had the opportunity to cross-examine Safeco's expert on the draft report.

Copy of opinion also available here Download file